My answer is going to be extremely biased as my sister has been a victim of ISB Hyderabad’s high fees and poor placement opportunities. This answer is meant to shed some light on this issue.
ISB Hyderabad MBA fees are currently INR 41,98,000 (plus GST) while the batch size is around 900. The Institute has failed to cater to the huge batch size and has witnessed a decline in the quality of education and placements in ISB Hyderabad.
The best roles are very scarce and are given only to the students with the top grades. Others end up with below-average packages. As far as the specialization is concerned, Finance jobs are almost non-existent at ISB Hyderabad. Consulting is one of the leading domains here and the top 3 firms do visit the campus. But the number of roles offered by them is not enough for the huge batch.
The other roles offered are mediocre and not at par with the hefty fees 900 students have paid. They expect better packages and after realizing the actual scenario feel wronged.
ISB Hyderabad MBA is not suitable if
So we can safely conclude that ISB Hyderabad is an overrated Institute and its rankings are misleading. The reality of the institute begs to differ.
ISB Hyderabad and IIM Ahmedabad are among the most reputed B-Schools in India. Contrary to the popular belief that IIMs are the best option, ISB is better than most new IIMs. Here is a brief comparison of the institutes.
IIM Ahmedabad-
ISB Hyderabad-
In terms of ROI, IIM A shows better results compared to ISB Hyderabad. The required fee is also less for IIMA. Unlike ISB, you won’t need mandatory work experience to join IIMA.
Studying at ISB Hyderabad is like studying at any ordinary college. The classes start at 8 am so you need to wake up before breakfast and dress up for your class. You may walk to the class and try to reach on time.
The classes end around Noon after which lunch is served. You can gossip with your friends over lunch, make study groups or visit banks and complete any pending appointments.
At once you are a free bird and can catch up on your sleep as you have to study from the evening till late at night. Once you wake up around 4, you can go to the gym, involve yourself in sports or prepare for your placements.
At night you can sit with your study group and study till 11-12. The ones who are more serious about academics study alone also till morning. After this, you can prepare for the next day and take a nap before your next class.
ISB Hyderabad placement statistics are given below
Particulars |
Statistics |
Highest CTC |
INR 60 LPA |
Average CTC |
INR 34.07 LPA |
The components in the packages generally include
Apart from this, some companies give a joining bonus of around 1–3 Lakhs which might or might not be considered as a part of CTC.
It’s highly illogical to compare a well-recognized brand like ISB with a no-name institute like IBS. It seems you are a bit confused between the 2 schools because comparing them is a literal joke.
ISB is ranked 1st in India and 4th in Asia and 32nd in the World at Best B Schools. It’s a B School that competes with top B schools like IIM ABC and here you are comparing it with a C grade B school in the country.
Almost anyone can get into IBS owing to the low qualifying scores needed and high number of seats available. Whereas getting into ISB is difficult even with a GMAT score as high as 99 percentile. ISB has the best corporate relations team in India and they work hard to get the roles that you want in the corporate sector.
The two colleges may share the same alphabet in their acronyms but there are nowhere similar when it comes to the brand name and worth.
Instead of institutes, you should compare programs. Assuming that you are comparing the ISB full-time program (PGP) with the IIM one-year full-time program, IIMA PGPX, here are some of the things that you should consider.
IIMA PGPX has its own advantages, but ISB PGP stands out due to the above reasons.
It’s hard to draw a differentiating line between the two campuses.
Peer Group:
The admission committee selects the incoming class and distributes it across the two campuses. So, you will get a similar peer group at both campuses.
Placements:
ISB Hyderabad and ISB Mohali conduct placements as a single school. Fore placements, students of one campus fly down to another. Students also don’t mention their campus on their CV. ISB Mohali placements 2022 had an average CTC of INR 34.07 LPA.
Education:
The quality of education and pedagogy are the same for both campuses. The faculties shuffle between the campuses and there are guest faculties from reputed B-Schools like MIT, Kellogg, LBS, etc.
At ISB Mohali, you will get almost the same academic experience as ISB Hyderabad.
You cannot logically compare US B Schools with ISB Hyderabad considering the difference in the quality of peer ground and overall education.
To give a better understanding, compare the ROI of both the B Schools. ISB Hyderabad MBA fees are around 24-28 Lakhs per year and considering the placement scenario, you cannot get a package of more than 15-18 Lakhs. On the other hand, the average fee of a US B School is around 120-200k Dollars and the salary one can expect from a B School is 120k. The ROI in the latter case is much better.
However, these ROI calculations have overlooked one part. As an International student, you'll need a job with a firm that sponsors h1b visas. This reduces 70% of coveted jobs. Now the hunt for a suitable job is tougher and you have to also hope that you win the h1b lottery. If you are unable to do so you might end up in India with a heavy loan of 80-90k Lakhs with an average salary of 15-20 LPA.
So we can say that US B Schools are always the better option than ISB Hyderabad but the risks involved are tenfold.
Several factors affect the chance of a candidate getting a seat in ISB Hyderabad. Not only the GMAT score, but also the application profile, essays, and performance in the interview combined together decides whether a candidate should get a seat or not in such an elite institute. The points listed below are some important aspects to consider for admission to such institutes.
This is the overall scenario for admission in ISB Hyderabad, for a student with an average profile.
Generally speaking anything above 750 is a good score for admission to IBS Hyderabad. But even a high GMAT score does not guarantee admission to IBS Hyderabad because the shortlisting is profile-based. GMAT score is just a part of the entire selection process. You need to improvise your profile by working on other aspects also like
Academics: Your 12th class marks graduation grades, post-graduation, and certification scores along with the GMAT cutoff is considered in your academic profile.
Leadership: The leadership skills of the aspirants are tested on the basis of their prior achievements and roles.
Personal attributes: This comprises your personal qualities like hobbies, talents, and extracurricular skills. Aspirants from diverse work experiences, cultures, and educational backgrounds are welcomed at IBS Hyderabad.
So along with preparing well for GMAT, give importance to these parameters as well to increase your chances of admission.